


Playdate

by DangerRollins



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Almost smut, Alternate Universe - No Zombie Apocalypse, Divorce, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Valentine's Day, Valentine's Day Fluff, some characters tagged are just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-02-08
Packaged: 2019-03-15 15:23:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,799
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13616169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DangerRollins/pseuds/DangerRollins
Summary: Judith has a date for Valentine's day and Rick doesn't.





	Playdate

"When we get there, Andre show me his favorite toy truck," Judith explained again, wriggling around in her car seat as she stared out of the window with big eyes. "The yellow one with the...Red stripe on it." Rick's eyes drifted up to the mirror to see her getting distracted by a string on her dress. He chuckled as he watched her yank at it, a large frown on her face, before blinking slowly and then looking at him. "Daddy, we have to fix my dress."

"I'll fix it when we get there."

Her frown deepened and he tried not to let it distract him. He'd already stared at her for longer than he needed to instead of paying attention to the road, but sometimes he couldn't help it. What could he say? Judy was a cute kid. "Andre can't see me like this." She whined. "I'm a mess."

He half chuckled and half sighed as he shook his head. He tried to pinpoint exactly who she got that dramatic talk from, but there was no telling. His best guess was Beth, she was always obsessing over small details, at least when she was preparing for a date.

"You look beautiful, Judith." He spoke sternly as he rounded a corner, staying silent until they pulled into a somewhat familiar driveway and he got the car parked. He unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to face Judith, a small grin appearing on his face. "It's just a little string. I'll fix it."

"My hair?"

"Perfect."

She nodded, seemingly content as she fumbled around with her seatbelt. He got out of the car and opened her door, helping her with it before tearing the string off her dress and then grabbing her hand as they walked toward the red and white door he'd grown used to over the past few months.

Four months ago, he'd been at the gym working out at 1 AM, blowing off some steam after a heated argument with his ex, Lori. He was the only one in the gym, other than the staff, for a good hour before a woman walked in, looking just as pissed off as him.

He hadn't said anything to her at first because of course, he hadn't! But when he was done with his workout, he decided to stick around for a while longer, and he was glad he did. The woman had broken down in the middle of her workout, crying loudly at first and then quietly as she tried to hide her emotions, but it was too late.

He'd been a little reluctant to speak to her at first, but he wouldn't feel right just walking out when she was clearly very upset about something. He was a cop, after all. What if there was something terribly wrong? Something that he could help her with?

He'd gone over to speak to her after a while of contemplation, and it took ten minutes of soft prying and slick convincing to get her to talk. She'd just had a rough day at work, being a nurse was a stressful job after all, and it'd also been the one year anniversary of her divorce.

She'd told him about how tough it was being a single parent, how she felt like she was failing her son by not spending as much time with him as he should and barely knowing how to talk to him when she did. Rick could relate to that all too well.

They'd exchanged numbers, meeting up only days later for coffee, and they quickly became good friends, which was pretty convenient because they both had four-year-old kids who were in desperate need of friends their own age.

Judith and Andre got along very well, thank god. They were near inseparable, and anytime they weren't together they were speaking fondly of one another until Rick and Michonne thought their ears would start bleeding! Still, they'd only had a few play dates before, Rick and Michonne being too busy to get together most days, but of course, they were both free on Valentine's day.

Sad? Yes? Good for Judith and Andre? Yes.

Rick had argued for days with Judith about it. He tried his damnedest to convince her to just wait another day, but she refused. She hadn't had a play date with Andre in almost a month, and she was sick of missing her best friend.

Rick was off on the 'Special' day and had nothing better to do, but he didn't wanna go over to Michonne's house on a romantic holiday and have her know just how pathetic his love life was!

Truthfully, Rick liked Michonne probably a lot more than he should. The woman was irresistible! Beautiful, kind, smart, skilled, ambitious, driven. Perfect, basically, for him at least. She was very likable, and damn did he wish she wasn't.

"My hair look okay?" He looked down at Judith and gave her a side smile. She nodded eagerly, squeezing his hand a little. "Curly. Like mine."

"Yeah." He chuckled before letting out a sigh and knocking firmly on the door.

Not ten seconds later, the door flew open, and Judith was being pulled into an adorable bear hug by Andre. "You look pretty!" He complimented.

"You too." Judith giggled.

Andre turned to Rick and waved before hugging his leg. Rick smiled at him and rubbed his back before patting his head. "Hey, buddy! No compliments for me?"

Andre grinned, one of his front teeth missing and the space where it'd previously been burning a hole in Rick's heart. The kid was adorable, just like his mom. Rick blushed at the thought. "Nope. Sorry!" The kid shrugged before pulling Judith inside. Rick chuckled before stepping inside and closing the door behind him. He watched as Andre dragged Judith off to his room, saying something about having flowers for her, and then he walked toward the kitchen where he knew Michonne probably was. Every time he came over, they always ended up spending their time in the kitchen. She often sat at the table, sorting through mail, studying her old college notes to stay fresh and sharp for her job, or even finishing crossword puzzles. Rick always made sure to make fun of her for it, calling her an old lady as she wore her large glasses and fussed about not being able to guess a word.

"Hey!" He greeted. He'd been right, she was sitting at the table sorting through mail. She got up and sent him a smile before hugging him and then sitting back down. "You had to work today?" He tilted his head, scanning her body quickly. She was wearing her scrubs, his favorite ones on her. They were plain, dark grey, but damn they looked good on her. The shirt hung low and showed her collarbone, the pants clung to her thighs nicely—Shit. Not this again.

"Oh," She blushed, looking down at her choice of clothing before her eyes flickered back to him. "No, they're just comfortable." She shrugged. "Plus, I feel weird not wearing them. I work so much that I'm just...Used to it."

"I get that." He smirked. "I'd be the same way if people didn't find it odd for me to walk around in my sheriff's hat all the time."

She giggled, shaking her head at him as she went back to sorting her mail. "So, how is everything? How's Carl?"

She'd only met Carl three or four times, but she'd grown fond of him quickly and the same could be said for him. According to Carl, Michonne was like the cool sibling he'd always wanted...No offense to Judy, or so he'd quickly added.

Rick had wanted to ask if Carl could see himself thinking of her as more of a cool stepmom, but he'd kept his mouth shut.

"He's alright. Still forging my signature for his detention slips, still rambling around in my room when I'm gone, thinking I don't know about it. Same old same old." He smirked.

"Still think Ironman is better than Batman?"

"Yep."

"Jesus, Rick. Get a hold of that kid."

Rick chuckled as he watched Michonne stand up after finishing her sorting. She walked toward the kitchen window, her mail holder hanging right next to it, and reached up to place the mail in there. Rick watched closely as her shirt slid up just a little, revealing smooth looking skin. His eyes drifted a little further and he bit his lips, trying to move his eyes away from her ass, but it was a lost cause. He couldn't even if he tried, and hell, was he even trying?

Michonne jumped a little, not able to reach the mail holder even on her tippy toes and Rick smirked as he leaned back in his chair. He'd asked her why she kept it so high up on his first visit, and she'd explained to him that her ex-husband had put it there and she didn't wanna change it. She held a certain sadness in her eyes when speaking about him that Rick just couldn't forget.

"Are you hungry?" She asked after finally getting the mail into its right spot. "I hope you are because you're eating."

"Bossy, much?" He quirked a brow, an amused look on his face as he watched her stroll over to the oven. She narrowed her eyes at him before opening it and taking out a glass platter. "It's meatloaf, green beans, and mashed potatoes. I don't cook much, you know that, but I don't know. I feel like a home-cooked meal on Valentine's Day is a must."

She set the platter down on the table and then went over to the cabinets to get some plates and utensils. Rick's mouth watered at the sight of the meatloaf. He hadn't eaten all day, not having the time as he slept in late and then helped Judith get ready before hightailing it up the road.

"I'm not gonna complain." He drawled.

She set the plates down before grabbing the other bowls from the oven, full of vegetables that Rick wouldn't complain about eating. Grown as he was, he usually argued down eating his vegetables, but Michonne had cooked a couple times before when he was over and she'd made it clear that he was to eat everything on his plate and he couldn't get up until he finished it all! He always did as she wanted, ate his vegetables, but he did it while thinking of something **else** he'd like to eat.

 **Damn** , he had to stop thinking like that. She'd kick his ass if she ever found out.

Once they'd fixed their plates and two smaller ones for whenever Judith and Andre got hungry, they began to eat, making small talk as they usually did, until Michonne asked him a question that he hadn't been expecting.

"So, tell me, stud, got a hot date tonight?"

He choked on his meatloaf, turning his head as tears filled his eyes as he tried to catch his breath. She patted his back, snickering quietly, making him blush. Not that she could tell, she thought he just wasn't getting enough air.

When he was able to breathe and see clearly again, he turned to face her. "No, I—I—" He shook his head, not knowing exactly what to say. "Why?"

She shrugged, a childish grin on her face as she shoveled some mashed potatoes into her mouth. "I just figured you'd have a date or something planned."

"Why?" He chuckled.

"I mean...It's Valentine's Day. You're an attractive guy..."

"Nope, I don't have anything planned today." He shrugged, trying not to focus too hard on the fact that she'd called him attractive. She always complimented him, she was just being nice, no big deal. "Unless listening to Carl ramble about Enid for two hours after he gets back from his date counts."

"Aw, I love those two." She slumped and pouted her lips as she thought about the young couple. They were absolutely adorable together! "How come our kids have dates and we don't?" She whined.

"I don't know, but I'm telling you, if I don't have a date next year, I'm banning them from even mentioning Valentine's Day in my house." He joked. "I just can't believe...Judith has a date and I don't."

"I feel the same." Michonne sighed. "You know...Last year, Andre picked up on how upset I was and...Didn't know much about Valentine's Day, but we spent the day together and he picked me some flowers and offered me some of his Halloween candy."

"Halloween candy? In February?" Rick smirked. Michonne rolled her eyes. "Yep. Needless to say, it did **not** make me feel any better."

"Judith spent Valentine's Day with Lori last year, but Carl stuck around the house with me. I bought us a shit ton of chocolate and we ate it all while we watched Romantic comedies the whole night." Rick rubbed his nose with the tip of his thumb before making eye contact with Michonne again. "We ended up falling asleep on the couch together, and it would've been cute if I didn't wake up a couple hours later with his feet shoved in my face."

Michonne hid her face with her hand as she laughed, and Rick watched her intently for a moment before glancing down at his half-finished plate of food. His heart fluttered in his chest as he suddenly felt the urge to make his move. Now was as good a time as any. Valentine's Day was the perfect day to confess your feelings to someone...Of course, if she didn't feel the same, he'd be utterly humiliated and he'd think about it for many Valentine's Days to come.

Plus, he and Judith had only arrived less than thirty minutes ago and they'd most likely be here for another two hours at least, probably longer. If he made a move on her now and she rejected him, they'd have to sit and be awkward with each other for the remainder of that time. No. Thank. You.

"How is Lori, though? I mean, are you two getting along better these days?" Michonne asked, snapping him out of his thoughts. She looked genuinely concerned, clearly ready to listen to whatever he had to say, and damn did that make him feel good.

"I wish I could say we were." He sighed. They'd been divorced for three years now and they hadn't made any progress. "We can't get along to save our souls. I figured when we got the divorce it'd be...Different. Better. I thought we'd be more civil, but that's...Not the case."

"Sorry to hear that," Michonne mumbled. Rick shrugged. "We both need to let go of the past and then I think we'll be good. Neither of us are ready to, though. So, I guess we'll just keep fighting like cats and dogs 'til we are."

She nodded, letting out a small laugh as she noticed the devious look in his eye. He gave her one of his signature head tilts and she blinked at him, wondering what he was looking at her like that for. "What about you and Mike?" He questioned softly. He hated to even bring the man up to her. He knew how much he got under her skin sometimes.

"He's Great. Still doing everything in his power to inconvenience me." She rolled her eyes. He'd tried and failed to get full custody of Andre a few months before Rick and Michonne met, and he'd also tried to get her fired from her job. Aside from that, he didn't do anything too big, just went around running his mouth about Michonne like some bitter high school douchebag, or so Rick had been told. "I haven't spoken to him in a couple months. Bittersweet."

Rick nodded. Not having to speak to that asshole had to be pure bliss for Michonne, but it also meant that Andre wasn't speaking to his dad either, and Rick knew how much Michonne hated that.

"He asks about his dad all the time." Michonne sighed, reaching out to grab her water bottle.

"What do you say?"

"Fuck, I'm not even keeping track anymore." She breathed. "Something different every time. I have no idea what to tell him...I don't wanna make his dad out to be a hero because he's not, but I can't disrespect him by turning our son against him. I always tell him that since me and Mike aren't together anymore, it's a little bit harder for them to get to see each other, but... I feel like I'm lying to him whenever I say that. Mike is just a twenty-minute drive away. He doesn't even have a job, he's got nothing but time." She sounded and looked exasperated as she talked about the nuisance she was forced to call an ex-husband. "Keep blaming myself. When we went to court...Mike fought so hard to get full custody. When he didn't, he just...I guess he figured if he couldn't see his son all the time, he might as well just not see him at all."

"That's stupid."

"It is. It's very stupid, but I don't know...Sometimes I wish he'd won. If he did, he'd see Andre every single day and he wouldn't have to worry about where his dad is. I'd never pull something like this, I'd never just avoid my son. I'd visit him all the time. He could have both parents...But I won so he gets one parent who's barely even there in the first place. He gets one parent and a babysitter."

Rick reached out to grab her hand as he noticed tears welling up in her eyes. She shook her head and let out a teary laugh as she squeezed his hand. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be bugging you with this—"

"I asked. Ask and you shall receive." He sent her a lopsided grin as he waved her off. "If you hadn't gotten full custody, you'd be a mess. You'd miss him so much, you know you would. No amount of visits would be good enough...Look, I don't know the situation, I guess. I don't know Mike, so, I can't know it for sure, but...In my opinion, from what I've heard, even if he had gotten full custody, he wouldn't be there. Sounds to me like he only wanted to hurt you. It wasn't ever about his son, he's making that clear right now." He spoke carefully, not wanting to offend her, and when he noticed that she wasn't he kept going. "You're a good mom. That kid loves you and he knows that you love him. You show him that by being there for him when you can, and doing everything you do for him even when you can't."

"Thank you, Rick." She muttered. "Damn, I don't know what to say."

He snorted and shrugged, taking his hand away from hers before standing up. It seemed they were both finished with their food now, and he wanted to take some stress off of her. "I'm gonna wash these dishes back up. Why don't you go get the kids and see if they're ready to eat?"

"You don't have to to do that."

"You fed me." He chuckled. "The least I can do is wash the dishes."

She stared at him for a moment, trying her hardest to ignore just how damn attractive he was and get moving, but it was difficult to ignore such beauty.

She snapped out of her little trance as soon as she could and nodded before making her way to Andre's room. She stood in the doorway for a moment, nearly melting as she watched the two toddlers playing with lego blocks together. She loved to see Andre with Judith. She was glad he had a friend, a nice one at that. A nice one with a hot dad...She tried not to think about that too much.

"Well, who is this in my house playing with my little Dre Dre?" Michonne called, placing her hands on her hips as she smirked at a wide-eyed Judith. "Surely it isn't Judith. She would've given me a big hug when she got here!"

"It is me!" She squeaked, running over to Michonne and hugged her legs tightly. "Judith Grimes, it is you!" Mihonne gasped. "Sorry Mrs. Michonne." Judith grinned, not looking apologetic at all. Michonne laughed and rubbed her fluffy hair down before shrugging her shoulders. "Who's hungry?"

***

"I cannot believe I'm showing you these," Michonne muttered as she rubbed her forehead with the hand that wasn't holding her wine glass. After Judith and Andre had eaten, they quickly returned to Andre's room, eager to get back to building their castle. Michonne and Rick moved from the kitchen table to the living room where Michonne poured herself some wine and gave Rick a glass of soda, and then pulled out the chocolates she kept in her secret stash. They went back to keeping up small talk, one thing led to another, and now suddenly, Michonne was hiding her face the best she could as Rick flipped through one of her many scrapbooks, this one being dedicated completely to Valentine's Day.

"Wow," Rick laughed loudly as he tapped his finger on a picture of Michonne and Mike when they'd first gotten together. Michonne was dressed in a long, reddish, suede dress, standing next to Mike, an arm wrapped loosely around his and a wine glass in her other hand. She was looking serious, looking like a model, in his opinion, and Mike was grinning. Michonne cringed as she looked at the photo. She was bearing some heavy fucking cleavage in it if she did say so herself, and showing a lot of leg as well, despite it being a long dress.

"I think I still have that dress." She murmured after a moment. Rick shifted the small book so that it was resting directly on his lap. The thought of her wearing that damn dress for him...He could just see himself running his hand along her leg, letting it slip inside--

God fucking damn it.

"You guys do something special every V-day?" He asked as he flipped through the photos. They were all so vintage looking, and she looked gorgeous in them all. Rick had never seen Michonne wearing anything besides her scrubs, workout clothes, and jeans every now and then, but in all these photos she was wearing elegant looking dresses, a full face of makeup and the look was topped off with beautiful jewelry. This woman never had a bad day in the looks department.

"Yeah, it's always been my favorite holiday. Even when I was younger, I'd always dress up and hang out with my friends, or even if I had to stay at my house, I'd buy myself chocolates and flowers." She shook her head at herself, letting out a small snort. She took a sip of her wine before humming, pointing to a picture. "That is my favorite dress of all time. I think it's the best one I've ever worn, wedding dress included."

Rick grinned as he looked at the picture. It was a gold dress with sparkles, and it looked very nice on her, but then again, they all did. "It's a beautiful dress, but why's it your favorite?"

"It just...Brings back good memories." She shrugged, blushing a little. "Mike got it for me and I wore it like five times. Something good always seemed to happen when I was wearing it. Found out I was pregnant the first time I wore it...Then I wore it to my mom's second wedding...Good times."

She pushed another piece of chocolate into her mouth and sighed a little. She missed dolling herself up and going on fancy dates with Mike. She missed doing something special for Valentine's Day. They only went on dates one time out of the year, wanting to make sure it was immensely special.

Rick watched her out of the corner of his eye, noticing that a little of the caramel from the chocolate had landed on her bottom lip. He smiled softly as he gestured to it, a confused expression crossing her face. He leaned closer to her with intentions of just wiping it off and then going back to doing what he was doing, but he couldn't. His hand cradled her cheek as his thumb stroked her lips softly, and before he knew what he was doing, he was closing the distance between the two of them completely, his lips landing on hers.

The kiss was slow and sweet, Rick's lips not pressing into her's too harshly, he was still half expecting for her to pull away and smack him before banishing him from her house forever, but she didn't. She leaned back on the couch a little more, pulling him with her by the collar of his shirt before her hands drifted up to tangle in his hair. Neither of them registered the sound of the scrapbook falling to the ground with a small thud. Rick's hands were clutching Michonne's sides tightly, the warm embrace sending shivers up her spine. His hands were so big and strong and it felt good to be held by him, just as she'd always secretly thought it would.

They were both panting, breathless but unwilling to let go of one another, and Rick couldn't resist lifting her shirt up slightly to run his hand over her smooth stomach. Michonne sucked in a sharp breath, her back arching as she allowed one of her hands to travel down Rick's back. His mouth was suddenly not on hers, but on her neck, planting gentle kisses on it. She was seeing stars and they hadn't even gotten to the good part yet.

And when she heard the pitter patter of small feet running along the hardwood floor, she realized that they wouldn't be getting to the good part. Not right now. She quickly drew a hand back and hit Rick in the stomach before shoving him away from her, causing him to grunt. He sent her a confused look as he touched the spot where she'd punched him, about to tell her that all she had to do was say stop and he would've, but he was cut off by two little voices calling for their parents.

Michonne fixed her shirt quickly, just in time for Judith and Andre to round the corner, holding what seemed to be coloring pages in their hands. "We colored some pictures for you," Andre explained as he went over to his mom. "I colored this puppy for you because he a nurse like you, see?" He showed her the puppy that had doctors tools surrounding him and she smiled. "And I colored you this teddy bear because he a policeman." He handed that coloring page to Rick and Michonne's heart melted as he took it, giving Andre a little fist bump before pulling him in for a hug.

"I colored you some candy because I know you like it." Judith grinned as she handed Michonne her paper. "And I colored daddy this hat since he likes his so much."

Rick chuckled as she handed him the paper and then pulled Andre into his lap before doing the same to her. "Thank you guys so much, they're beautiful." He complimented.

"They're your Valentine's Day presents," Judith informed him. He nodded. "I wish I'd gotten you guys something!"

"You've got candy." Andre grinned. "Mommy always hides chocolate in the back of the fridge."

Michonne shook her head as she thumped his side. Her secret had apparently been found out, probably long ago, and she hadn't even known it! "Tell the whole world then, why don't you?" She grumbled. "And where are my hugs?"

She laughed as Judith and Andre attacked her with hugs and tickles, and Rick chuckled as he watched the scene play out in front of him, offering no help even when she begged for it, and even joining in on the torment.

Michonne was beyond happy. Maybe this Valentine's Day wasn't being spent with her husband, having a fancy dinner and wearing a beautiful dress like it usually was, but it was still very special, and she couldn't bring herself to wish for it to be any different.

Rick was happy he hadn't had a date and happy that Judith had begged him to bring her here. He'd made his move on Michonne, finally, and if that kiss was anything to go by, she felt the same for him as he did for her.

This Valentine's day was turning out to be a great one.


End file.
